A Shifty Character
by Dreamflight4798
Summary: Alight! Sonic Fanfic! Please keep in mind that most of this information comes from the Sonic Comic interpretations. This story is all about my personal character's introduction as I see it. Enjoy it please! NOTE: I have uploaded the right document now, so there shouldn't be any issues now.
1. Everyone gets knocked out

**Let the story begin! This takes place right after STH comic #231, right when Mecha Sally comes into play and Antione gets injured.**

**Please Note: I own nothing but the plot and my OC.**

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Sonic's POV

Sonic sat outside New Mobitropolis. "King" Nagus was making the city's big problems even worse. Nicole wouldn't even talk to him without hiding behind text anymore and Sally was robotosized. Bunnie now needed to get used to losing her robot half, so the Freedom Fighters were one person short; three if you counted Sally joining Eggman and Antoine being injured.

Suddenly he stood. His natural danger radar had gone crazy. He whipped his head around and saw yet _another_ Metal Sonic bearing down on him. He had no time to react: something hit him on the arm. Sonic looked at it and saw a dart. He felt himself slipping.

_Darn it_, he thought before he passed out.

Knuckles' POV

Knuckles fumed silently. Sonic was such an idiot! He had let Sally get robotosized and had even had the nerve to ask Knuckles for the last warp ring!

Julie-Su knew to leave him alone to vent, but right now he was letting it build.

He could see something out of the corner of his eye. Something big. Good.

Knuckles got up. The dark thing suddenly charged, faster than he had expected. He dodged it and it whirled to face him again. He could now see it was a robot, probably Eggman's. He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but it looked both tough and fast.

It rushed for a second time, even faster than before. Knuckles felt electricity run through him when it made contact with his skin. He was out in a matter of seconds.

Shadow's POV

Shadow was tense. Today his mission was to keep Hope protected as she moved out into the open to rectify some data that had been received at a G.U.N. outpost. So far all was quiet, but he didn't relax anyway: He would not allow Hope to be put in any kind of danger today.

They left the shelter of the trees and onto an open plain. In the split second that his eyes took to adjust, something happened. He heard it: the soft whirring of an engine. It sounded fast.

Then he could see it: Hope was being held by Mecha Sally, a blade to her throat. Shadow summoned a ball of chaos energy into his hand and prepared to blast the living weapon.

"This unit will destroy the one known as Hope Kintobar if any sign of hostility is shown or harm is given to this unit. This unit will let her go if you if you do not show any signs of violence and will do as this unit orders."

Shadow felt utterly helpless; He could not lose Hope, but who knew what would happen in his absence from G.U.N. would do to the organization. Slowly, he extinguished the chaos ball and relaxed his body, one muscle at a time.

Mecha Sally came over and clamped power cancellation cuff onto his wrists before releasing Hope. Shadow sank into darkness, watching Hope's terrified face all the while. Then he was alone.

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**First Chapter is done! Everyone ends up knocked out at this point...**

**Until next time, Review!**


	2. Transition to something more interesting

**So, everyone got knocked out, but why? Well, you will need to read the story to see if the mystery is solved! Here things are preparing to get more interesting.**

**Disclaimer: I only own the plot and OC's.**

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Shadow's POV

Shadow came to very suddenly. One minute there was nothing but darkness, then he became aware of surroundings, and of a rapidly fading stinging sensation in his arm.

He was in a room that was completely made of metal. Pressing his hand against the wall, he tested the strength. It didn't give way, and the amount of pressure he was using would be enough to crush a car hood.

_The doctor must be determined for me not to escape,_ he thought. It had to be Eggman, because who else would Mecha Sally be working for? If the cell room was strong enough to keep him contained, then Eggman must need something from him.

Turning, he noticed two limp figures on the floor. He walked over to see who it was. Sonic and Knuckles, both out cold. He noticed a small bandage around both their arms. Examination proved it to be nothing more than a pinprick, but it seemed to be evidence of a blood draw.

He puzzled over it slightly, but found it unimportant* and not worth wasting time over. A quick equipment check proved that he had none of his G.U.N. equipment. That would make escape even harder.

He patiently waited for Sonic and Knuckles to wake up, considering his options all the while. His thoughts did nothing but go in circles for hours.

Sonic was the first one to come out of it. He spasmed violently before leaping to his feet.

"Good to see you're awake, Blue Hedgehog." Shadow said, not looking at him.

"'Sup Faker?" Sonic replied. He didn't seem to understand the entire situation yet.

"It would appear the doctor is determined to hold us as prisoners for some purpose. I have tested the security, but this cell is all but airtight."

Sonic spent some time digesting this information.

"It is watertight, right?"

Shadow resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Sonic's inability to swim and overall fear of the water was no secret, but it was hardly the time for this. He simply glared at Sonic until he stepped back, hands held up in surrender.

They heard a lock disengage and both turned. Mecha Sally stood by an opening in the wall.

"Your five days have ended," she said. "This unit will escort Shadow the Hedgehog to the location as ordered by master. Any violence will be met with punishment."

She waited. Shadow stood to his full height, chin up, jaw set, eyes harder than steel. He approached the once-living princess. She turned, fully expecting him to follow. Hating himself for doing it, he walked after her.

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**Me:...and CUT! Take five people! That's a wrap for today.**

**?: When do I get to show up on set?**

**Me: Shush, they aren't supposed to know about you yet. Go away.**

**Sonic: Review dudes!**

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***It is not unimportant, but he won't find that out until later.**


	3. An impossible revelation

**Now we are gonna switch to Sonic's POV. Basic info: Shadow has been gone for a few hours, and Sonic is playing random hand games (rock, paper, scissors, sticks,etc) with Knuckles to pass the time. He isn't worried because Shadow can take care of himself, but wonders what could be taking so long.**

**?:My turn now?**

**Sonic: No, you know that.**

**?:*angry mark***

**Knuckles: Dreamflight4798 doesn't own anything but the plot and her OC.**

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"When you don't get a perfect number, you are still in," Sonic insisted.

"You're making that up!" Knuckles complained. "There is no such rule!"

Before either of them could let the argument progress any farther, the door slid open, and Shadow entered. It became immediately apparent that something was wrong: Shadow was clutching his ribs, and one leg dragging behind him. He was covered from head to toe in bruises.

"Shadow!" Sonic cried, rushing over.

Shadow gritted his teeth. "The doctor is insane." he growled. "He's created a clone of me."

Sonic froze. "A clone? You're sure that it was a clone and not an android?"

"I'm positive. I know the difference between the two. It was pure flesh and blood. It also had a life aura."

"How'd you get all roughed up?" Knuckles asked, still looking on in disbelief.

Shadow's jaw tightened. He didn't seem to want to say, but he managed to get it out.

"It was physically enhanced. Faster and stronger than I, though not nearly as agile or trained. I stood no true chance against her. She could have killed me. Only the doctor's orders prevented her from doing permanent damage."

"You did say her, right?" Sonic asked, disbelievingly. "The clone was a her? You got beat up by a girl?"

Shadow glared at Sonic. "The genetic manipulation the doctor used made her a female, so... yes. I did get beaten by a girl. If you say a word of this to anyone, I will personally hunt you down."

"Okay, just chillax dude," Sonic said turning away so Shadow wouldn't be able to see that he was about to cry from not laughing. Knuckles was engaged in a similar struggle.

Shadow's scowl deepened.

"Don't take this so casually," he warned, an edge of menace in his voice. "The threat is real. She broke an arm, one leg, and at least three ribs without breaking a sweat. She also managed to throw my arm out of joint when she threw me into a titanium wall, leaving a dent at least four inches deep. No one else in the world has that kind of physical power while being restrained to a fraction of what they could do."

"She was being held back?" Knuckles cried. "And she still managed to surpass my top power levels?"

Shadow nodded. Sonic felt like a rock had embedded itself in his stomach. It was too terrible to be true.

A slot in the wall suddenly clicked open and three plates of food were shoved inside. Sonic was too hungry to care what it was: he charged over at forty miles and hour, grabbed the nearest plate and started wolfing it down. Knuckles and Shadow remained at a distance.

Knuckles gave in after fifteen minutes, but Shadow refused to touch anything. He let the two of them split his share, brooding in a corner and allowing the chaos energy to start healing him.

Sonic felt the rock reenter his stomach the minute he thought about this super-clone. It was entirely possible that Eggman had done the same for each of them.* The thought made him feel sick. This was just so wrong.

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**Okay, now we are getting somewhere! The climax draws ever closer!**

**Sonic: Where did you get that?**

******Dreamflight4798: Made it up off the top of my head. I know it sounds cheesy.**

******?: Are we getting close to my part?**

**********Dreamflight4798: Yeah, we're getting closer.**

**********?: Yay! :D**

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***Close, but not quite right.**


	4. Smack Down!

**So, this is a few days later, and everyone is in the same boat now. Sonic's theory that Eggman has made super-clones of each of them appaers to be accurate. Nobody-except Shadow-has recovered from their injuries yet, so this is probably a bit unfair.**

**AND NO, I am not going to tell you yet. You have to read this-and pay attention.**

**?: You're being mean.**

**Sonic: Dreamflight only owns the plot and OC's.**

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Knuckles' POV

_Darn you Eggman!_

Knuckles was still sore-mentally and physically-from his beating. His link to the Master Emerald allowed his injuries to heal rapidly, but he wasn't yet at peak performance again.

Shadow was across the room tending to Sonic, who was still out cold-as he had been for nearly four days; it was hard to accurately tell how much time had gone by at any given point.

Knuckles was about 67% sure that Sonic was ok, and was just feigning unconsciousness to avoid potential embarrassment. But there was always that annoying 33%...

With no better option than to continue his steaming, Knuckles slouched against the wall and fell asleep.

*.*

Something was prodding him. Knuckles swatted at it blindly, put the poking only got more insistant. With a groan of defeat, Knuckles sat up and looked blearily around him. Sonic was hovering over him, looking fine.

"You ok, Knux?" he asked.

"I _knew_ you were faking!" Knuckles burst out. "You really are ok!" Sonic was confused.

"Sure I'm ok dude, but you were out for, like, a week."

Knuckles did feel a bit groggy, but it was more like he'd overslept for a few hours, not days. He stretched his cramped muscles without comment.

The sound of the door made him look over. Mecha Sally waited.

"All of you," she said. No one had to guess what she wanted, but the motives behind her orders was the unknown and worrysome thing here.

They were marched down the complex array of halls. Soon they were shoved through a pair of twin steel doors into the titanium cell. It was plain silver all around, and a dark spot was on the other wall, where they knew one-or all three-of their super-clones could be hiding, waiting for the order to begin.

"Hello boys," came a chill, female voice from the corner. "Nice of you to show up."

"Who are you?" Knuckles hollered impatiently.

"You know me already. I'm all of you."

Knuckles had no clue what _that_ was supposed to mean; neither apparantly did Sonic. Shadow, however, looked stricken.

Then the mysterious persona stepped into light.

She was a fraction of an inch taller than Sonic, looking entirely like a hedgehog except for the Enchida dreadlocks slid inbetween her spines, shaped like Shadow's, but with the first colored two shades darker blue than Sonic. She wore a dark gray jacket, zipped up, with Eggman's logo on the back. A studded belt held up her torn black shorts, and her long boots matched the ones that Silver the Hedgehog had been known to wear. Her eyes were a deep crimson, almost matching Shadow's red irises.

She grinned, sharklike and knowing. Then she shot forward.

Sonic and Shadow's reflexes were enough to get out of the way, but Knuckles was knocked to the ground, bowled over by her powerful body-slam. Knuckles was almost certain that getting hit by a train would feel like this: the world flashing red with agony.

The strange hedgehog stood over him, still smiling. Then her form glowed with golden energy, and her shape changed. Knuckles blinked and saw his own face, eyes red rather than purple.

He was lifted bodily off the ground and thrown across the room. His shoulder hit the wall and he felt it pop out of joint. Looking at his attacker through half closed eyes, he saw her change back into the original form she had confronted them in.

Sonic-bravely, but stupidly all the same-went on the offensive. She responded by trading blow for blow, none of Sonic's punches seeming to connect, and if they did, they didn't hurt her. She became Sonic in a flash of gold, and began to chase him down. Sonic was only barely ahead of her to begin with, and she easily gained on him.

Sonic swerved sharply at a corner, into which the strange Sonic-imitation slammed promptly into, leaving a solid dent in the titanium measuring about a foot deep. She pulled herself out in frustration, but didn't seem fazed, hurt, or even slightly dizzy, just really _really_ angry.

She was done playing and Sonic didn't stand a chance. She had him down and out so fast that it was as if no movement had taken place at all.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow called as he sent a bolt of energy at the assailant. The "spear" bounced off a golden wall that materialized a second before contact. Their attacker turned back too look at Shadow, smiling wryly as the wall condenced itself into a sphere above her gloved palm. The beam of pure chaos energy that exploded from the ball a split second later enveloped Shadow, making his figure the only thing visable.

When the light faded, Shadow was on his hands and knees, unable to do anything more than gasp for breath.

The strange hedgehog hesitated in her next attack. Then as she began to summon more chaos energy, Eggman's voice crackled on over the intercom.

"Don't kill them Shift. Just put them to sleep. Then pull out."

"Fine."

She released the energy and Knuckles, with a feeling of a bowling ball being dropped on his head, fell unconscious.

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**Okay, there is something about this story and people getting knocked out.**

**Knuckes: *rubbing his head* No kidding.**

**?: Yay! I'm public!**

**Sonic: Review to let us know what you think.**


	5. Thoughts

**Didn't update this for months...**

**Sonic: You have other stuff. Like school.**

**Shift: It's not an excuse.**

**Dream: Whatever. R&R.**

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_Shadow's POV_

Despite that his body was unconscious, Shadow's mind was going a million mile an hour, calculating everything he'd witnessed during the fight. Each new variable was shocking, and meant that he had to recalculate the entire equation.

It was simply not possible for something-or someone-that powerful to exist. It upset the balance of nature. Limitless power was impossible, because everything had some kind of limit, even Shadow.

Shadow's thoughts traveled in circles until he was hit with a realization. The super-clone, Shift, had been essentially designed to conquer each of them: too fast for Sonic, too strong for Knuckles, and with Chaos Powers to combat his own.

There was something else that had been embedded in her that the others wouldn't have noticed: her laugh. It was Maria's laugh. Twisted, yet definitely the same one Shadow had heard many times.

Shadow felt a powerful surge of hate. It was directed at the Doctor, all his followers, and Shift. The hatred rose, peaked, and rose again. He hadn't felt such rage since Maria's death. It was almost shocking.

But he _liked_ it. He liked being able to blame someone aside from himself. It was almost relieving.

Maybe Shift was dangerous, but she had to have a weakness. Shadow only knew of one: manuverability: She moved so quickly that she couldn't control herself. There was no other way to try and defeat her.

Maybe when he woke up, he could call a strategy meeting.

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**Dream: Akward end.**

**Sonic: Who cares?**


End file.
